Late Night Conversation
by Splinter
Summary: This was a challenge of sorts. Young Mikey finds a magazine in the sewers that has him all confused.


I'm sorry in advance but, this idea just popped into my head and I had to write it. The rating is for um.naïve turtles who know almost nothing about the outside world or the humans that inhabit it. Male or female. The guys are somewhere around 9 or 10 years old and its pretty safe to assume that they don't get the Playboy channel.  
  
"I'm telling you, she didn't have one."  
  
"That's impossible. You just didn't see it."  
  
"No. She didn't have one."  
  
"Maybe it was real small."  
  
"Heh heh, that's your problem, Raph."  
  
THWAK  
  
"Guys, settle down before Sensei comes in."  
  
"Mike, you're just blind. It had to have been there."  
  
Michaelangelo sighed and laid down on his pillow, turning away. "Fine. Don't believe me. But I know what I saw."  
  
"Or didn't see," Raphael said with a chuckle.  
  
Michaelangelo ignored him and his other brothers who had gathered on the bottom bunks for their usual late night discussion. Tonight was about a magazine that Michaelangelo had found in the sewer that afternoon. And what he had seen shocked him.  
  
"Anyway, Mike," Leo began ignoring Raph. "Humans wear clothes all the time. How could you have seen it or not seen it?"  
  
Mike shook his head still not looking at them. "These humans weren't wearing clothes."  
  
His brothers' eyes widened at that and shocked silence fell over the room.  
  
"You're lying," Raphael accused.  
  
"I am not," Mike muttered.  
  
"Okay, Mikey. Where's the proof?" Leonardo tried to placate his younger brother and give him the benefit of the doubt. "Where's the magazine?"  
  
"I'm not telling," Mike said stubbornly. "And if you guys won't believe me then I just won't talk to you."  
  
"Mike, it's not that we don't believe you," Donatello began slowly. "It's just kinda hard to believe."  
  
Mike spun around in bed. "It's the truth!"  
  
Raph grinned. "You just talked to us."  
  
"Well, I won't again," Mike said angrily.  
  
"You just did," Raph teased.  
  
"Shut up, Raphael!"  
  
The door to the room opened and their sensei glared at them from the doorway. They all froze.  
  
"Good-night," Splinter said firmly.  
  
Raphael and Leonardo scrambled up to the top two bunks. They all pulled their covers up and closed their eyes to sleep. After several agonizing seconds the door closed. The three turtles waited all of five minutes before returning to their previous spots on the lower bunks. Michaelangelo didn't look at them.  
  
"You know," Donatello began slowly and more quietly. "It is possible Mike's right."  
  
Hearing this, Mike turned to face them, curious.  
  
Don tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I mean, maybe this is a difference between turtles and humans."  
  
"Sensei has one," Raph argued.  
  
Don sighed. "Okay fine. Between mutants and humans."  
  
Mike shook his head. "The guy in the magazine had one."  
  
There was silence for a few minutes while the brothers all pondered this bit of information.  
  
"Maybe," Donatello began slowly. "Maybe it's a gender thing. Male and female. I mean, there are differences between men and women right? This could be one of them."  
  
The handful of times the brothers had been to the surface had limited their opportunity to see the humans they shared the world with. And even when they did go, humans could only be observed in the dark at a distance. Television was the only way they saw humans up close. But after Michaelangelo and Raphael's disastrous attempt at imitating "Peter Pan" a couple of years ago, Splinter explained that not everything on TV could be believed.  
  
"No way," Raphael said emphatically. "It's not freakin possible."  
  
"Donny says it's possible and he's smarter than you," Mike insisted.  
  
"He is not!" Raph retorted angrily.  
  
"Is to!" Mike replied.  
  
Don made a dive for Mike and Leo tackled Raph covering the bickering turtles' mouths.  
  
"You want Sensei to come back?" Leo whispered furiously.  
  
Raph pushed Leo and sat back up glaring at him, but he didn't retaliate as much as he wanted to. Don moved aside letting Mike back up, but the younger turtle stayed laying down with his face to the wall again.  
  
"Okay Michael Angelo," Raph said drawing out his brother's full name. "I'll believe it when I see it. Where's the magazine?"  
  
When Mike didn't answer, Donatello sighed and patted his brother's arm. "Come on, Mikey. "  
  
Mike turned glaring at his brothers. "I hid it. Under the couch so Sensei wouldn't find it."  
  
Raphael slid down from the bed. "What're we waitin for?" He headed for the door and opened it quietly. His brothers stared at him for a second and then at each other. Mike and Don shrugged and followed him and after a moment's hesitation so did Leo.  
  
The four of them crept as silently as possible to the living room and Mike got to his knees reaching under the couch for something. After a few seconds he pulled the magazine out and stood up. He looked at his brothers holding the magazine protectively. "This is still mine."  
  
"Yeh yeh Mikey. Whatever." Raphael grabbed the magazine from his brother and opened it. "Ok. Where----" He trailed off and his eyes got wide. The others gathered around staring in shock at the magazine. None of them said anything for several minutes.  
  
"Damn," Raph whispered finally.  
  
Leo breathed out. "Oh man."  
  
"See," Mike piped up. "See I told you." He pointed to the woman on the page. "No tail. She doesn't have one." He reached over and turned the page. "And neither does she. None of them do."  
  
His brothers didn't seem to be listening. The magazine had their undivided attention. Mike sighed and grabbed the magazine back from Raph and flipped through the pages. The other three watched him "Here." He showed them. "But the men have tails."  
  
Again silence descended over the room as the pictures held the boys' attention.  
  
Finally Donatello spoke up. He cleared his throat, his face heating up. "Uh Mike. I don't think that's a tail." 


End file.
